“X” didn’t always mark the spot

You know the old saying, “X” marks the spot. Well in the old days “O” marked the spot and so did “arrows.”

In the early days of aviation, before radar, satellite tracking and radio communication, the pilot had to rely more on his or her skills and a little help from friends.

Getting your mail of course started with the penny postman in the early 19th century then the Pony Express in the mid 19th century, followed by hot air balloons, stagecoaches, railroads and eventually the airplane.

The first use of delivering mail by airplane is attributed to Fred Wiseman in 1911 when he carried three letters from Petaluma to Santa Rosa, California. The first official airmail drop was made by Sir Walter George Windham in British India in 1911 when his pilot delivered 6500 letters to Naini from Allahabad, a distance of only 8 miles.

In 1920 an official airmail route across America was established, all 2,629 miles of it. Since there was little navigation equipment the Postal Service in 1924 developed a not so pretty ground based system for their airmail pilots. They built about 1500 beacons spaced about 3 to 5 miles part. The beacons were 50 feet high with rotating lights placed on concrete foundations in the shape of large arrows that ranged from 50 to 70 feet long and painted bright yellow. The beacons powered by acetylene gas flashed every 10 seconds similar to today’s strobe lights. They could be seen for 10 miles and below them a series of red and green lights that flashed out, in Morse code, the letter to identify which beacon they were approaching.

The beacons were successful and there were more than 500 beacons doing their job the first year of operation. The beacon program continued until 1929. As they were improved, the beacons became 10 miles apart with stronger lights and visible for 40 miles in good weather. However by the 1930s when radio technology had improved to such a degree the Low Frequency Radio Range system began replacing the beacons. By 1933, the depression and high cost of operations put the beacons out of business. By the Second World War, many were taken down and used as scrap for the war effort. The last beacon was closed in 1973 but one article says the Montana Dept. of Transportation Aeronautic Division still operated about 19 updated beacons in the hills of Western Montana.

What is fascinating is that many of the arrows are still around and while they lost their yellow hue and some have weeds growing in them, they can still be seen and appreciated. For a great read and wonderful photos visit

Interestingly there were arrow and beacon locations in the capital district probably as mail carries flew north and south and then west.

Here are the locations. See if you can find any remains and let me know. We will publish them.

Rensselaer County

MZ1975 Renns

Montgomery County

NA2090 Mont

NA2085 Mont

NA2025 Mont

NA2010 Mont

Saratoga County

OD1549 Saratoga

Washington County

OD1396 Wash

There was also the use of circles to denote an airport from the sky. Julie O’Connor posted one that was in the local newspaper when a circle was placed at Quentin Roosevelt Field on what is now the Port of Albany. Circles were used to denote a landing strip or airport. Albany was commended for putting its 10-foot wide circle of lime to help aviators find the airport on July 13, 1927. It also said the city was looking at installing lighting systems at the cost of $10,000 approved by the city council.

You can see several circles marking the spot of some abandoned airways at

Particularly look at the Silver Star Airport, the Somerton Airport in Philadelphia, the Boulevard airport in Philadelphia, and Buehl Field in Bensalem, PA.

“X” did mark the spot but The “X” was used on an airport but only to designate it as closed. See the Budd and Buehl Airfield photos in the previous Web site.

Speaking of Quentin Roosevelt Field. It was the region’s first real airport and first municipal landing site in the nation. Quentin Roosevelt Field began as a small patch, a former polo field, on the old Shaker Farms property on Old Loudonville Road in Colonie. QR Field in Loudonville was 900 feet long and 750 feet wide. It lasted one year.

Flyers like Warren White, Cy Bytner and the Cryer Brothers, Dale and Ernie, flew in open cockpit plane to deliver the mail from there. While flights were few and far between night men kept a log of all the mail planes that passed over the filed. The mail planes bound for Buffalo and Cleveland followed the Hudson to Albany and then headed west.

QR was named after Teddy Roosevelt’s son who was killed in WW I who crashed after being shot in the head on July 14, 1918 while fighting the German “Flying Circus.” of which the Red Baron (Manfred von Richthofen) was part of? He was shot down and crashed at Chamery France. There is a good description of it in Eddie Rickenbacker’s biography here:

On June 19, 1919, five airplanes took off from QR and flew to Albany performing stunts above the city, looping the loop, doing tall spins, spiral dives and turns for the benefit of hundreds of spectators who flocked to the center of the city to watch. The planes were on their way to Cornell to celebrate their centennial celebration and one of the members, a mechanic was a “Full Blooded Indian,” exclaimed the papers, Sergeant Emil E Steininger, full blood Cherokee. Guess it was news that they had an “Indian.”

On June 21, 1919 flying became a popular pastime in the Capital District as the newly formed Birch Aircraft Corporation advertised they would take 100 passengers on a ten-mile trip at $10 each at QR Field in Loudonville. It was reported that if flying became popular a new Curtis N J-4 of the G type plane would be installed in Saratoga Springs and if in demand regular service between Albany and Saratoga would be established and eventually to Lake George. The company thought they would be able to land at the Saratoga Race track grounds but was refused. They did get a field called the Marvin Flyer Field on South Broadway opposite the Lincoln Bathhouse, which opened on June 2, 1919.

On August 12, 1919, Major Sidney F. Parker of the British Air Service stopped at QR Field and let off Commodore Albert Traver of the Poughkeepsie Yacht Club who rode to Albany with him.

Sometime after QR Field moved to Albany around 1920 to a small patch on Westerlo Island, then being developed into the Port of Albany. In 1926 the Port announced a plan to expand lanes on QR Field there for mail, passenger and freight service. The new expanded field would even have a hook for dirigibles. It was called the Quentin Roosevelt Memorial Field.

On July 28 1927, Charles Lindbergh with the Sprit of St Louis stopped at the Albany field during his national tour and landed at QR field at 10:01 AM. He left Albany to go to Schenectady and stopped there before his continuation to Syracuse for the night. While here his old flying instructor William Winston from Glens Falls visited him. He was greeted in Albany and taken to Lincoln Park where he addressed a school group and then had dinner at the Ten Eyck Hotel.

Also in 1927, Richard E Byrd, North Pole flyer with Floyd E. Bennett his pilot on the Polar Dash stopped at QR on Aug 6 on his way to Rome to take part in the Fort Stanwix/Oriskany Sesquicentennial celebration.

On Aug 10, 1927 the first women aviator landed at QR field on Westerlo Island. Ms. Bessie Davis landed with a passenger from Detroit. As the Albany newspaper editorial put it, “History is merely repeating itself. The first woman aviator lands in Albany. Some day there will be many of them. Many families will have planes. There need be no doubt about it.”

On Feb 28 1928, Charles Lindbergh arrived in the area gain to see Gov. Smith sign the first State law on Aviation but instead of landing at Westerlo island in Albany he landed in Schenectady due to the danger o cross winds in Albany.

On June 1, 1928 airmail service began in Albany at the QR Field and the new airport being developed at the Shaker Farm (now Albany Airport). QR Field was eventually abandoned after the new Albany Airport opened officially on October 3, 1928.